The National Picture Analysis

Comparison of "The Conciliation", 1840 and "The National Picture, 1985

Both ‘The Conciliation' and ‘The National Picture' represent different views of European and Aboriginal Australian relations.

‘The Conciliation' depicts a white male in uniform in the centre of the frame. He is surrounded by 15 indigenous people, most of whom looking towards him. The indigenous people are of mixed gender, hold spears in their hands, some with beads around their necks and are all scantily clad. The painting itself is ‘naturalistic' in nature and set in a natural environment (a grassy mound next to the ocean). It is dated 1840. In the foreground of the painting is a badger – a species introduced to Australia, a wallaby – a species native to Australia
The surroundings in "The Conciliation" are that of the Australian bush – aboriginal land.

The native wallaby represents the natural wildlife of Australia, while the dog and badger represent introduced species. The three animals sitting peacefully together symbolises the ‘conciliation' of native and foreign people (Aboriginal Australians and European settlers).

In "The National Picture" there are references back to the original picture that leaves us in no doubt that a specific comparison is being made. For example, it uses the same placement of objects and people within the frame as "The Conciliation". The face of Truganinni is superimposed and the Aboriginal people in the background remain. However, there are differences too, and this invites analysis of the differences.

The backdrop has changed from a natural environment to a photographic studio. The corrugated iron represents a more man-made environment, which is what Australia has increasingly become over the years.

The wallaby has been reduced to a skin. This makes reference to the reducing number of native wildlife in
We aimed to portray the youth acting out towards authority. In this case the authority figure is Ms Labowitch, our teacher. We placed her in the centre of the frame as we wanted her to be the prime focus. She wears a smile upon her face and holds out her hand, as if to ‘conciliate' with us, but she looks to the camera and not to me (the person's hand she intends to shake). This symbolises the way in which some authority figures "reach out" to the youth with nothing but a good publicity stunt and personal gain in mind. In the picture I am seen to pull my hand away, as if so say, "No, I will not buy into your false promises, or act as a tool to enhance your credibility and humanity in the eyes of